Beat

R

Released Jan 29, 2000

1 hr. 29 min.

Drama

List

57%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The true story of two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the Beat Generation.

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Felicia

I started to watch just for Norman Reedus but it turned out to be a really good movie, would recommend to many others!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

enjoyable historical/bio-pic my 1 complaint? Sutherland is horribly miscast as Burroughs he hasn't the height or the skinniness of the real Burroughs.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Enjoyed the movie! A nice footnote of the Beat Generation. The movie was more about Joan Vollmer and her relationship with the rest of the gang (Lucien Carr, Allen Ginsberg, and William S Burroughs). If your expecting a more in depth story about the Beat Generation or any of its members, you'll be disappointed.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What this film is trying to achieve is to give a picture of the Beat scene before any of the writing was done. Centered around Joan Wollmer Adams' NYC apartment, the beat triumvirate are assembled and serious. Lucien Carr's murder of David Kemmerer is turned into a novel co-written by Burroughs and Kerouac (not released till after Carr's death, probably for legal reasons). Kill Your Darlings, by the way, treats this time period also. The Mexico, D.F. visit plays up the romantic involvement between Carr and Joan. Courtney Love actually does a decent job in this movie, but it is far from historical. So, the claims of "a true story" are exaggerated. In terms of production quality, even with first string actors, the film has at times a college-movie feel to it. Ironic that Ms. Love, who in the blogosphere might have had a hand in Cobain's untimely demise, is herself cast as a victim in a creative couple. By the way, all the time spent with Joan (Love) typing and writing is sort of interpolated. Whatever she may have been she wasn't a beat poet.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An impressive cast. That's about it. Unless you know the story of these figures already or saw another 'beat' related movie, then you will be lost and not care. This is mostly due to total lack of character backstory or development. I wonder how they managed to even get this cast together for this movie.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The highest point of this film is definitely the cast. They performed beautifully. Overall I enjoyed the film, not only for the cast but as a work of art.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Gary Walkow

Director

Courtney Love

Joan Vollmer Burroughs

Norman Reedus

Lucien Carr

Ron Livingston

Allen Ginsberg

Kiefer Sutherland

William S. Burroughs

Daniel Martínez

Jack Kerouac

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Ron Livingston is excellent as Ginsberg, the film's de facto narrator, and Kiefer Sutherland is admirably restrained in the role of Burroughs.

Apr 7, 2010

Full Review

Caffeinated Clint

Moviehole

Put it out of it's misery, please?

Rated: 2/5

Mar 11, 2006

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 11, 2005

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 8, 2002

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 3/5

Oct 22, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

The true story of two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the Beat Generation.

Director: Gary Walkow
Executive Producer: Avi Lerner, Willi Bär, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short
Production Co: Pfilmco, Beat, LLC, Martien Holdings A.V.V., Background Productions, Walking Pictures, Millenium Pictures, Pendragon Film
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2009

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